China names Tibet-Xinjiang highway bridges after deceased Galwan soldiers

In its report, Chinese media The Global Times mentioned the deceased soldiers as 'martyrs' and said: "Along the G219 highway, 11 bridges are now named after the martyrs and their hometowns including Xiangrong bridge, Siyuan bridge, Zhuoran bridge and Hongjun bridge, as some pictures circulating online showed. "

"Hongjun refers to Chen Hongjun, a border defense hero who held his post on the plateau for 10 years and died during the China-India border spat on June 15, 2020. And Xiangrong reminds Chinese people of Chen Xiangrong, another martyr who sacrificed his life in the border standoff with India, whose touching words 'pure love, only for the country' are still remembered by many people," the newspaper reported.

"In February 2021, the Central Military Commission issued commendations to the servicemen for their role in bravely fighting back provocations by foreign forces in the Galwan Valley. The title of "Border-defending Hero" was conferred posthumously to Battalion Commander Chen Hongjun, while Chen Xiangrong, Xiao Siyuan and Wang Zhuoran received first-class merits," the newspaper reported.

Twenty Indian Army personnel, including a commanding officer (CO), were killed in the fierce clash with Chinese troops in the Galwan Valley in eastern Ladakh, in what was the biggest military confrontation in over five decades between the two sides.

The Chinese side, after keeping mum over their casualties, revealed after 10 months that four of their soldiers had been killed, though according to western media the Chinese army suffered several casualties in the fighting.